McEneny's future depends on park

By JORDAN CARLEO-EVANGELIST Staff writer

Published 1:00 am, Friday, May 21, 2010

In March, Assemblyman Jack McEneny made a simple promise: If John Boyd Thacher State Park isn't open by the time the Legislature and Gov. David Paterson finish wrangling over the budget, he'll just quit.

"If we are that dysfunctional that Thacher Park remains closed at the end of the budget, life is too short," the Albany Democrat told Insider Thursday. "I don't want to be a part of a state government that's that inept."

Strong words from a man who's spent 18 years representing the city and rural parts of Albany County, including Thacher in the Helderbergs.

One woman who hopes McEneny means them is Deborah Busch, a Berne Republican challenging the nine-term incumbent this fall.

Busch took McEneny to task this week as most of Thacher closed indefinitely amid the state's fiscal quagmire and as the Legislature and governor still appeared miles apart on a compromise.

McEneny, she charged, is as a much at fault as anyone in state government.

"For years Jack McEneny and the career politicians in control of our state government have been piling on new spending when we couldn't even afford to maintain what we already had," Busch said in a statement. "So when he talks about how upset he is that Thacher is closing, he knows full well that he has voted for all the spending and all the misplaced priorities that created the budget deficit and forced the closures."

Busch knocked McEneny specifically for voting this week against a Republican amendment to the governor's emergency spending bill that would have kept all the state parks open.

But Democrats in both houses have resisted numerous attempts by the minority GOP to amend the emergency extender bills, which keep the government running, because of the logistics of getting the other house to quickly agree on identical language.

Busch is backed by local affiliates of the Tea Party movement, something McEneny said has nothing to do with his pledge to quit. If he goes, he said, it'll be because of Thacher: Not because of the fight over state worker furloughs, not because of the Tea Party or the anti-incumbent sentiment among voters, "that goes with the territory. ... To go back on a promise, I think is very demoralizing to the public."

It could leave his party scrambling, too.

Albany County Democrats were expected to meet Thursday night (after this column's deadline) to endorse McEneny for re-election.

An agreement on a budget, which by law was supposed to be finished April 1, could take weeks, or more. If the budget is concluded after McEneny has already collected his 500 signatures to get on the ballot, his committee to fill vacancies would have until Sept. 21 to replace him on the ballot in November's general election.

More Saratoga drama

Drama is swirling behind the scenes as Saratoga County Republicans approach their full committee endorsement meeting next week on Thursday.

The executive committee chose lawyer Erika Riebel for Family Court judge, over the incumbent Gilbert Abramson.

Despite the slight, Abramson still plans to run, according to Republicans who have spoken to him.

According to a member of the committee who saw a letter from the judge and then related its contents to Insider, Abramson treated the matter lightly and said he would run for a second 10-year-term despite the probe.

The nature of the investigation was not immediate clear. The commission itself does not confirm nor deny if a judge is under investigation.

But when county GOP Chairman John "Jasper" Nolan heard news of the investigation, he said he encouraged Abramson not to pursue the party nod for a second term.

A close call

Lastly, Albany Common Councilwoman Jackie Jenkins-Cox -- whose vote was potentially crucial to the passage Monday of four controversial bonding ordinances related to the Rapp Road landfill -- gave some of her colleagues a start when she informed them that she'd be unable to make the meeting.

The ordinances had already failed to get off the ground twice -- once with Jenkins-Cox's support and once without it.

And while Jenkins-Cox's intentions remain unknown, she was considered by some to be a "yes" vote. Ultimately, the point was moot because another "no" vote, Councilman Anton Konev, changed his position and supported the borrowing for the first time.

In an e-mail to colleagues before the meeting, Jenkins-Cox said she would be absent to attend an event marking her son's signing a letter of intent to play basketball at Bloomfield College in New Jersey.